Forget Regrets
by xpiester333x
Summary: A collection of drabbles and short fics for the event "A Week Without Regrets" on tumblr. Every day is based on a different prompt but all of them are about our favorite trio of brothers.
1. Chapter 1

_**Day 1 - General**_

* * *

The pile of branches and sticks was haphazard at best, but considering the pyre had been constructed by two young boys, it really wasn't so bad.

It had been Ace's idea, mostly for a sense of closure for himself and for Luffy. The younger boy was too little to understand he needed such a thing, but Ace had caught him awake and silently weeping to himself more nights than he cared to keep count of. He knew Luffy was trying to be strong, but he also knew something was missing. If this would help Luffy, it would be more than worth it.

They didn't have much of Sabo's to burn. The clothing he'd worn was gone, as was his usual fighting pipe and his personal flag. There were the blankets he'd used to sleep in, still laid out as if he'd be back to sleep on them that night. Burning them seemed impractical though. On a cold night, extra blankets would always be welcome. Aside from that, there were the three sake cups they'd used to commemorate being brothers hanging on the wall of their home but… Ace could never burn any of them. It didn't matter if Sabo was gone or not, he was their brother, and that would never change.

A thorough scouring of their tree house and usual haunts found one of Sabo's oldest pipes, badly damaged and beyond repair, and an early version of a Jolly Roger he'd made for himself and then rejected. That was all they found that was exclusively Sabo's, but it was enough to make due.

"Luffy!" Ace called, placing his last armful of kindling around the base of the pyre. "Did you get the stuff I asked you to?"

"Yeah!" Luffy appeared. "Ace! Listen! Dadan was just sleeping outside! These were really easy to steal!" The youngest brother laughed and proudly presented the book of matches Ace had asked him to get.

It was suspicious that Dadan had been sleeping outside and so soundly that Luffy was able to take her matches from her without being caught, but Ace wasn't going to question it. "Okay, give them to me," he instructed.

Luffy handed the matches to Ace when he saw the now completed pyre. Ace had already laid Sabo's things on it. All it needed now was a light.

"This is what a funeral is like?" Luffy asked. His voice was uncharacteristically quiet, and Ace could detect the sadness in it.

"Yeah," Ace muttered. He could see his own sadness reflected in Luffy's eyes. Sabo had been gone for a week already, but it was still strange not to have him there. There were still moments when Ace thought of something he wanted to say, something not suited for his little brother's ears, something he could only tell Sabo. But his brother wasn't there and never would be again, and sometimes remembering that threatened to bring the tears Ace had been pushing down back to his eyes. He needed to say goodbye.

"Come on, Luffy," Ace struck a match, tossing the matches back to his brother. "Help me light this."

Luffy jumped at the chance to play with the matches, struggling for a moment to figure out how Ace had gotten his lit. Once he'd figured it out, he tripped forward and nearly fell onto the pyre in his haste to catch up to Ace as he had already ignited several patches of kindling. Ace bit back an annoyed sigh, resisting the urge to snap at his little brother for his stupidity.

The fire grew quickly once they had it lit, and Ace and Luffy had to take several steps back to escape the heat. They watched silently as the flames spread, rising up the pile and encompassing the items laid on top. Sabo's old flag fluttered in kicking flames before they burned at it, and it sank back against the wood, blazing brightly in the eager fire.

"Ace," Luffy spoke, his voice unsteady.

Ace looked down at him. Luffy's overly large straw hat hid his face, but no tears fell from beneath it.

"Is this goodbye?" Luffy asked, the tremor of sadness evident in his voice. He was biting his lower lip, fighting back the tears he promised he wouldn't shed anymore.

Ace looked away. If Luffy cried, he would ignore it, just this once.

"Yeah, Luffy, this is goodbye."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Day 2 - Lyrics/Quotes**_

* * *

"_We have to live a life of no regrets!"_

* * *

Ace tried. A life of no regrets? It was almost laughable. He'd always regretted being born, for being the son of that demon, for a start. Sure, that was beyond his control, and that made it easier to bear, but that didn't mean it didn't eat at him. It didn't mean he was happy about it.

But he could still try to live without regrets. For the most part, he did well at it. He had regretted losing to and being captured by the Whitebeard Pirates; he spent a while regretting that. It had worked out for him though, and in the end he was happy things had turned out the way they did. He didn't regret joining his new family now.

He had felt regret when Thatch was killed. He should have suspected something would happen, he should have been there to stop it. He knew Thatch's death hadn't directly been his fault, but he regretted not being able to help.

It _wasn't_ his fault though. It was Teach, their traitorous brother, and Ace knew how to make things right. He couldn't leave Teach to someone else. He wanted to make amends to Thatch for not being there. If he could bring Teach back and hold him accountable for his actions, he could make things right.

He hadn't been successful in that, but he'd given his all to try. He knew Thatch would appreciate that; he would thank Ace for trying, probably pat him on the back and offer him a consolation drink. No, Ace didn't regret his failure.

In all of his life, he did pretty well in living without regrets. There were hiccups and dark times when he almost felt them, almost let them sink permanently into his heart, but they were always washed away. Sabo would be proud. Ace could face his brother in the afterlife without shame.

There was just one thing left for Ace to regret.

His body had grown cold, he could feel his life fading. Luffy's skin was hot against him, like a glowing ember. It made sense, he supposed. Luffy was his sun, his reason for living. No one wanted a child like him, but his brother needed him.

"I just have… one regret…"

He wanted to see Luffy become pirate king. He had never wanted to live more than he did in that moment. He wanted to see his brother's dreams come true. Of course Luffy could do it, Ace had no doubt about that. He was just sorry he wouldn't be around to see it.

"Just like we promised back then," it was getting difficult to speak, but Ace kept going. "I have no regrets about how I lived my life."

When he thinks about the people around him, he thinks he did really well, actually.

"Thank you… for loving me."


	3. Chapter 3

**_Day 3 - Colors_**

* * *

"And it's done!" Sabo declared, stepping back to reveal his handiwork to his brothers.

Ace and Luffy pressed in on either side of him, both eager to see the finished product. The flag had been Ace's idea, but drawing had never been his strong suit. Luffy had proven to be, if possible, even worse than Ace, and so the painting of their flag had fallen onto Sabo. Sabo didn't tell them he'd been forced to take art classes before, and though he never did especially well in them, he was good enough to do a simple design like this.

"It looks kinda… incomplete," Ace commented, his nose wrinkling the way it did when something displeased him.

"Well, we still have to put our initials on it," Sabo explained. "A for Ace, S for Sabo, and L for Luffy."

"Why do I have to be last?!" Luffy whined.

"Because you're the little brother, now shut it," Ace snapped.

Sabo continued as if they hadn't been interrupted. "I just wasn't sure what colors you guys wanted your letter to be. I was thinking blue for mine."

"I want red!" Luffy jumped up quickly. "Red! Red!"

"Quiet!" Ace snapped. "Why do you want red so badly?"

"Because it matches my hat!" Luffy grinned as if it were a clever point.

"Luffy, your hat is yellow," Sabo said.

"The ribbon!" Luffy pointed to that spot specifically. "The ribbon is red!"

"Fine," Sabo sighed. "Ace? What color did you want?"

Ace shrugged. "I don't really care. Any color is fine."

"Hmm…" Sabo looked over his paints, wondering which one best suited Ace.

"Oh!" Luffy exclaimed suddenly. "I know! Ace should have yellow!" He picked the small can of yellow paint up in example.

"Is that just because you don't want yellow?" Sabo asked skeptically.

"Nope! It's because gold is yellow, and gold is the name of the pirate king, Gold Roger! Isn't that cool?"

Sabo stiffened, shooting a worried glance at Ace. The freckled boy was glaring daggers as Luffy, his hands balled into tight fists. Sabo wondered how Luffy seemed to always know the _wrong_ thing to say.

Ace moved so quickly Sabo didn't have a chance to intervene. Even though Luffy's head was made out of rubber, the punch still _looked_ painful. Even Luffy winced as his head bounced off the ground by his feet. He rubbed at both the spot Ace hit and the dirt smudge where his head had met the earth.

"Hey what was that for?!" Luffy cried out.

"I'm taking red, you idiot!" Ace snapped.

"Whaaaat?!" Luffy frowned. "Why?!"

Ace folded his arms over his chest, turning his glare to a nearby tree. "You're just the little brother, why should you get to choose your color first?"

Luffy fired of a list of half-whined complaints, tugging on Ace's arm and calling him mean. Sabo chuckled at his brother's antics and set to painting his own letter into the flag.

"Luffy!" He silenced his younger brother when he was finished. "Didn't you say yellow was like gold, like Gold Roger?"

"AH!" Luffy released Ace, a pleased smile coming to his face. "It is! I'll be yellow then!" He made a face at Ace, gloating over his color.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Sabo finished the letters on the flag. Red for Ace and yellow for Luffy on either side of his blue S.

"There," he smirked, sitting back. "It's finished."

"Looks good," Ace commented with a smile. "Now… raise the flag!"

"Raise the flag! Raise the flag!" Luffy echoed while they mounted their flag on his pole and hoisted it to the top of their tree house.

"Now our ship is complete!" Sabo smiled, looking out over the horizon. "Let our adventures begin!"


	4. Chapter 4

_**Day 4 - Tears**_

* * *

Luffy sat and looked out over the ocean. His first day of training had gone horribly, and he had the cuts (and bite marks) to prove it. That was to be expected though, Rayleigh had warned him this training would be intense, so he wasn't put off by one day's failures. He'd just have to try harder tomorrow and even harder the day after that.

It was winter on the island now. Clouds had formed about half an hour ago, and Luffy was sure they'd pass by in another half an hour, but for now he sat, watching the snow fall. Fat flakes drifted from the sky, swirling in the icy breeze, melting away into nothingness when they hit the warmer water of the open ocean.

They reminded him of ashes.

He thought about Ace. He did a pretty good job not thinking about his brother during the daylight hours when he had training and food to take his mind off of everything else, but in the dark, when he was supposed to be sleeping, his memories returned. They weren't all bad, he remembered the adventures and trouble he'd gotten into with his brothers. He remembered how angry Dadan would get with them. He remembered their tree house and the time they'd spent training to be better fighters… but even the happiest of memories were tinged with sadness.

He remembered Sabo; the first of them to go off to sea. Sabo had always stood up for him when Ace was being too mean. He could still, even ten years later, hear Sabo's laughter. He could remember Sabo's exact stance when he was ready for a fight. Luffy laughed when he remembered how often he'd lost to his brother.

But Sabo was gone…and now Ace was gone too.

The wet tracks of tears turned cold instantly on Luffy's face. He wiped at them furiously. They froze against his cheeks as if they were too stubborn to leave.

He promised Ace he'd get stronger, he promised he'd grow up. He wasn't the crybaby he used to be anymore.

But he was the only one left. His brothers were gone, and he was alone. Not entirely alone, he did still have his nakama, but he had lost his family. He had lost both of his brothers.

The tears returned, and Luffy let them. They ran cool trails down his cheeks and froze where they dripped onto his bedding. He wasn't a cry baby anymore, but just this one last time he would let himself cry.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Day 5 - Growth**_

* * *

**Warning!** This chapter contains spoilers for current events in the manga. If you are not up to date with the manga, I highly recommend not reading this chapter.

* * *

Luffy never stopped fighting after Ace left. He was alone, but didn't show it. He fought bears, tigers, and wild boars, anything that would present a kind of challenge to him. He needed to train and get stronger. He'd see his brother on the open sea again someday, he wanted to be stronger when he did.

He'd gathered a strong crew and earned himself a bounty by the next time Ace saw him, but that wasn't going to be enough. Ace was so strong, and with his devil's fruit powers he was even more impressive. Luffy had a lot of growing to do before he would be able to fight on par with Ace.

He fought battles, learned new tricks. He made the most out of his abilities and worked to get stronger. His opponents were fierce, and he had to fight harder and harder to get through them. He was getting stronger and stronger by the day, he could tell. The next time he saw Ace, he'd be able to show his brother what he had become.

The next time he saw Ace, he got to fight alongside him. Back-to-back, Luffy got to fight with his brother as an equal. He'd gotten so strong. Ace relied on him as much as he relied on Ace.

It wasn't enough though. All of his strength wasn't enough to protect his brother, or his crew, or anything. He was strong, but not strong enough, so he needed to keep going, changing, improving. One day he'd be strong enough to protect anything.

* * *

Ace was strong. He'd left home to become a pirate, and made a name for himself in no time. His crew was unstoppable, feared wherever they went. He was successful, but all the success in the world couldn't change who he was; a devil's child.

His crew was defeated, he was captured alive by the worst possible person imaginable. His father's rival… it was as if the world was playing a cruel joke on him. Reminding him that he couldn't escape who he was, and that the past would always catch up to him.

He had always been ashamed of his life. He'd heard enough people pass judgment on him because of his father, without ever really knowing him. He could never grow out of it, or escape who he was. The whole world hated him for being born, and he couldn't help but to agree with them.

He found family though. He had love, and that gave him a reason to live. He had Luffy and Sabo first, and then his brothers and his father. They might not have been his blood relatives, but they were much, much closer to him than that. And as the last flame of his life extinguished, he felt the love of living that had grown without his knowing, caused by their influence.

* * *

Sabo's life was secret. By all official accounts, he was dead, so not even his own brothers could know he was still alive and well, fighting for a cause he felt was absolutely right. They'd understand, he was sure. He missed them, yes, and sometimes he wished he could go see them, show them what he had become. He couldn't though, those were not his orders, and as long as Ace and Luffy thought he was dead, they would be just fine without him.

In the meantime, he would continue to grow as a soldier for this army. Someday, if he had the opportunity, he'd get to see his brothers again. They could punch him for lying to them all this time, maybe, and then they'd get to celebrate being together again.

He should have known what would happen. Sure, his brothers were strong, impressively so, but so were their enemies. He should have known, but his orders were changing, and he couldn't go to them. Luffy and Ace would handle it themselves, he was sure of it.

The grief and remorse weighed on him like a ton of bricks.

He would never make that mistake again. That experience had taught him a lesson, a harsh one. Never again would he let orders be his excuse. His cause wasn't more important to him than his brothers, no matter what anyone said. He'd grown in the last two years, changed. He knew what was most important to him, and now he knew what to do about it. If Luffy was ever in danger, he'd be there.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Day 6 - Protect**_

* * *

**Warning again for spoilers of recent events in the manga.**

* * *

The news of Ace's death had crumbled the world around him. The ground beneath him seemed to shift, and he found it impossible to keep standing. He thought he knew pain and understood loss, but Ace's death had taught him better.

It was a mistake. He should have been there. There was nothing more important than his brother. His cause couldn't compare. That was what had kept him away though, his cause. The war between the marines and the pirates meant little to the revolutionaries. It wasn't a battle that would benefit them, there was no point in calling themselves to arms and joining in. It was a battle as old as the sea, grander in proportions maybe, but one that was almost destined to happen. As a revolutionary, he had no reason to be there.

As a brother, however, he should have been. There was no excuse for not going. No orders or missions should have kept him away. Even Luffy, the younger brother, had been there. He'd fought to save Ace, and he'd had to watch Ace die right before his eyes. If his little brother could do it, why the hell hadn't Sabo been there?

He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Never again was he going to pick up a newspaper and read about his brother's death. He was never going to let his world crumble that way again. He learned his lesson the hard way. Nothing would keep him from the fight next time, there was no excuse that could stop him from protecting his little brother.

If Luffy was ever in need of help, Sabo would be there. He was the older brother, that was his duty. He would never fail Luffy the way he failed Ace. Protecting Luffy was his greatest cause and his most important mission.

Never again.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Day 7 - What if_**

* * *

"Raise the anchor!" Luffy cried throwing a fist into the air. "Unfurl the sail!"

"You don't give orders," Ace sighed, bopping Luffy in the head with his fist the way he always had done.

"Hey!" Luffy protested, rubbing at the spot and readjusting his hat. "I'm the captain in this ship too!"

"He's right, Ace," Sabo agreed, although he looked somewhat regretful about doing so. "Technically he can give orders too."

"Not to me he can't," Ace said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Um…" Sabo scratched his head uncomfortably. He was going to have a fight on his hands if he wasn't careful. "Maybe not…"

"Then who else can I give orders too?!" Luffy waved impatiently over the deck of their small ship. "We don't have a crew yet!"

Ace laughed at his little brother's misfortune. "Guess that means you're our slave until we get some more people!"

"Aaace!" Luffy whined. "We said we were all gonna be captains together!"

"You're still a captain, Luffy," Sabo cut in diplomatically. "But we all need to work while it's just us. How about you pull the anchor, I'll manage the sails, and then we can eat?"

Luffy was off like a rocket with a cry of "fooood!"

Ace leaned back against the rail and clicked his tongue. "You should have made him do it," he said to Sabo.

"We're all in this together," Sabo reminded him gently.

Ace scratched his head irritably. "Yeah."

"Sabo!" Luffy interrupted. "Food!"

* * *

Luffy's eyes opened to take in the endless blue of the sky above him. He sat up on the figure head of the Thousand Sunny. Around him was nothing but blue, the sky meeting grey-blue water, a boundless blue horizon connecting them. He replaced his hat on his head, and scratched an itch on his chest.

It had been a dream.

Of course it had. His brothers were gone. Not that they would have captained a ship with him anyway. That was never part of the plan.

"Luffy!" Usopp called. "Chopper and I came up with a new game to play!"

"Usopp, I told you that you weren't allowed to play that on the ship!" Nami shouted.

"But Nami!" Usopp frowned.

"Listen to Nami-san!" Sanji scolded him. "It's lunch time anyway, wash up and get in the galley" he turned to the left and raised his voice. "That means you too, idiot swordsman!"

"I don't want to be called an idiot by an idiot eyebrow like you," Zoro replied irritably.

From his place on the figurehead Luffy laughed. He loved his brothers, and he missed them, but he wouldn't trade his crew for the world anyway.

* * *

**A/N: **That's the last of the prompts for this week! Thank you to everyone who read them, I hope they were enjoyable for you!

And a huge thank you to **Romey** for your reviews. I'm sorry I didn't get to do a real future set ASL, and I'm sorry about the tears, but your reviews meant a lot so thank you much!


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